Will enshrining Dutch as the country’s offical main language in the constitution mean that we can actually understand what official information actually means? asks Hanneke Sannou

The Dutch language is going to be enshrined in the constitution as the country’s main language. The cabinet’s decision is meant to ensure that Dutch citizens will continue to be able to ‘communicate in Dutch with the authorities’ for ever and a day.
Apart from a nagging feeling that we are dealing with a nasty case of Wilderitus – the Moslims are high jacking the Dutch language and we will all be forced to speak Arabic, quick put it in the constitution! – the supposition that the Dutch have been communicating with the powers that be in their own language comes as quite a surprise.
For years, the Dutch have struggled with the incomprehensible jargon that passes for Dutch pouring forth from the pens of thousands of civil servants whose only goal seems to be to confuse, bewilder and anger.
Any civil servant caught actually communicating is forced to throw himself on his sword. Every form, every paper is checked for the number of sub clauses and sent back if any less than 6 in one sentence have been counted.
Responses to this gobbledegook are usually very clear and concise, comprised of a very few words made up of no more than two syllables. That is how communicative Dutch can be.